Nigel Farage’s offer to trade unions to break with Labour and join Reform UK has been met with a barrage of rejections from union leaders, who dismissed his claims to be the voice of working people as a “con”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Reform have shown absolutely no evidence that they are friends of workers.” Unison’s Andrea Egan called Farage’s outreach “a con … interested in unions for nothing but cold hard cash”, while a GMB spokesperson described Reform as “re-badged Tories after union members’ basic rights”.
“Unions reject Nigel Farage's offer to join Reform UK as TUC demands Labour impose an emergency energy tariff.”
The snubs came after an interview in which Farage told The Times his “door is open” to unions, citing a poll suggesting he was the most popular leader among trade union members. He invited union leaders to Reform’s conference in September. But his party has pledged to scrap the Employment Rights Act, which grants sick pay from day one and unfair dismissal rights after six months — a move Unison said shows “what it thinks of working people”.
Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month and has signalled a future Labour leadership bid, said: “Farage has the audacity to vote consistently against the rights of workers and then claim he’s open to trade unions.”
As Farage’s overture was rebuffed, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) — Britain’s biggest federation of workers — called on the Labour government to adopt a far more radical plan: an “emergency social tariff” on energy bills, paid for by a higher windfall tax on banks.
Paul Nowak, the TUC’s general secretary, told the New Statesman the proposal is designed to show that the government is on the side of working people, especially after Farage’s claim that Reform is now “the party of the workers”. The tariff would cut annual bills by 30 per cent for the lowest-income households — a £559 saving — and by 20 per cent for those below median income, with 65 per cent of UK households receiving some support. The cost, estimated at £3.4bn to £5.9bn per year, would be covered by taxing banks, which Nowak said are “doing very well at the moment”.
The TUC wants the measure introduced as an emergency when the current energy price cap expires this month, and later made permanent to shield workers from volatile global markets.
Labour received £1.4m in donations from seven unions in the first three months of this year, including £392,544 from Unite — despite its sharp criticism of the government — and £366,936 from Unison. The TUC, while not formally affiliated with Labour, has historic ties and close relationships with many Labour MPs.
Farage acknowledged in a video that there would be “disagreements” with union leaders but pointed to “historical injustices” around the British Steel pension scheme as potential common ground. But with unions now demanding wealth redistribution through energy bills, the question is whether Labour will embrace the TUC’s plan — or risk losing the very workers Farage claims to champion.